Power Converters: Something To Think About When Planning For A New Aircraft Interior

February 2017

When designing and installing a new interior, it’s not unusual to have last minute design changes or additions to add items that require added power. When this occurs on an AC powered aircraft, it becomes necessary to order a converter for converting the aircraft electricity (115 v AC/400Hz) to household electricity (115v AC/60Hz) ; which after ordering can take as long as four to six, and sometimes up to 12 weeks to arrive.

This long lead time often delays the testing of the electrical wiring and appliances, which puts our installation, cabinet, and interior teams at risk due the inability to test the circuit prior to interior monuments needing to be installed to meet the dead line.

The Importance of Testing

Power Converters are often installed under floor boards or behind the galley and wiring is ran to the location of the appliances like coffee pots and microwaves.

Because the converters are remotely located, we need to test the electrical systems before the final interior installation. By testing ahead of time, we are able to identify any squawks and work those issues, while access is available. This is an important step as once the galley and interior are installed, if the electrical system or the appliances do not function correctly, the interior may need to come out, adding labor-hours and increased downtime, and possibly causing damage to the interior due to the removal and replacement.

Avionics Instrument LLC Power Converter

To avoid added labor-hours, downtime and headaches, we have an Avionics Instrument LLC 3.5KVA Power Converter on-site available for use at all of our maintenance facilities. It has an output of 115VAC at 60 hertz, and provides a clean sine wave output quality. Having this converter available for immediate testing can save days of down time, speed the installation process, and assure systems are working, all aiding in maintaining down time.

If you are thinking about installing a new aircraft interior, consider having it designed to accommodate this 3.5KVA converter.

These converters are only used on AC powered aircraft, such as Bombardier Challengers or Globals  and Gulfstream G-IV, G-V, G-VI.